1. What are the circumstances of the two inmate deaths and how many inmates have died there recently?
A: Last week, two inmates died one day apart.
Michael Dorotiak, 43, was serving a sentence for coercion at High Desert and Marlo Thomas, 52, was sentenced to death in 1997 for robbing and killing two prep cooks at a Las Vegas steakhouse in 1996.
Neither the Clark County coroner’s office nor the Nevada Department of Corrections had released the cause of either death yet.
Another man, Brandon Hanson, was pronounced dead in a fatal stabbing at the prison on Jan. 5.
In November, Hawk Urban, 27, was stabbed to death after a fight with his cellmate.
This makes six people dead at High Desert since the Department of Corrections transferred more than 2,000 inmates there last year from Ely State Prison, which was the state’s highest security facility and has struggled with gang activity and violence.
Six people dying within a year is concerning. And knowing that two were from stabbings means obviously there’s weapons, so there needs to be an investigation and changes made.
2. How much are corrections officers making, and how much are prison leaders making?
A: We don’t have 2024 pay yet, but 2023 payroll records show that state level executives aren’t making that much compared to correctional officers.
At High Desert prison, Warden Jeremy Bean made $107,000 last year plus $62,000 in fringe benefits. Three assistant wardens made between $95,000 and $127,000 in pay, plus between $53,000 and $57,000 in fringe benefits.
So, not a ton – the highest paid in the prison are the correctional officers because they’re making a lot in overtime – no correctional officer is making six figures in base pay, it’s with OT that they get six figures.
About one-third of people made $100,000 or more in base pay and overtime. But only 2% make six figures on base pay alone.
These are state employees working in Clark County, so let’s compare them to the workforce of Clark County government – about one-quarter of employees made $100,000 or more in total pay and 14 % of people making six figures in base pay alone.
3. How does High Desert compare to prisons in other states, both in conditions and in pay for staff?
A: American prisons are typically overcrowded and understaffed. There’s lots of crime and There’s little public oversight, so there’s lots of abuse and violence.
Almost 2 million people are incarcerated in the country.
You see a lot of overtime for correctional officers, that’s not uncommon.
In NYC, base pay for a correctional officer starts at $53,000 for a new hire with no experience and goes up to $101,000 after 5 ½ years – plus opportunities for overtime. Median pay in NY is $71,000.
Nationally, the median pay for correctional officers and jailers was $53,300 in May 2023.
These are not highly paid people but they do have very tough jobs and very risky jobs that need more oversight from their state officials.